Denver Comic Con 2017
Well, while waiting for pictures to upload for posting over on G+, let's see...
We rented a car, left Friday morning, got to Denver with enough time to pick up a con badge that hadn't shown up in the mail, then meet friends for dinner. With a party member who hadn't been exposed, we went to Casa Bonita - which itself means long lines on a Friday night (of a holiday-ish weekend). The food's not bad and the atmosphere is fun. I like the experience, and getting to hang out with an old friend and catch up was a definite plus. This all got us back to the hotel fairly late and road-weary, though.
Saturday, we got breakfast close and went off to the convention center. And walked around the convention center to join the line. And shuffled through line for... well, I didn't time it. Over an hour, I'm sure, as it was wrapped around the building and merged with others along the way. I think waiting in line with others can be a bonding experience. And we saw tons of people and costumes just there, even before we got into the lobby, which was packed.
Things thinned out a little in the halls and exhibition rooms, but back on the main floor with various vendors set up, it was pretty dense again. Sooo many people. It makes my experiences at Further Confusion look almost laughable by comparison. Last year recorded something like 117,000 people, and I imagine this year will outdo it.
There were tons of costumes on display. I'm a little surprised I didn't see more fursuits, Mandalorians, or steampunk individuals specifically, but all three niches were represented to some degree. There were a bunch of Rick-and-Morty pairs, perhaps the most common thing I took note of. Though there might have been more Deadpools. I only caught sight of one Mass Effect individual - a uniformed (rather than armored) femshep with a baby krogan in her bag. There were a lot of general Star Wars characters. Just so many different things, some of which I got pictures of, and some I didn't. So many I'm sure I didn't even see.
There were authors, artists, vendors of toys and comic books of course. A large section was set off for signing booths. And lines everywhere. Everrrrywhere.
I did not go in with any must-do targets. Nina and Jamie did have some, but the panels they had in mind to view were kind of shot to hell by how long it took to do anything. We did get in a few lines. They got through to Felicia Day. I started off standing in a line mostly to keep company, but decided to suffer through it and about an hour later, Jamie and I had signed pictures from Nathan Fillion. As a side note, his hands were notably soft. So, surrounded by so much, that's really the only thing I walked away with. There were a bunch of other toys and tidbits, but nothing that screamed "buy me!"
The problem with the whole experience is how huge and overwhelming it was. At FC, one would go make a sweep of the dealers' den and go back to the room. In this case, I didn't want to leave the convention center for fear of getting stuck in a line to get back in (though it may well have cleared up later in the day), so it was go there and spend pretty much the whole day there, until we left to get dinner. And even then, we didn't feel like going farther than the restaurant attached to the hotel (which was quite good, mind you). I'm also kind of glad I didn't finish my Mandalorian kit, as wearing that all day may well have been too much.
Due to personal schedules and a need to get back, there was no second excursion to the con, just the return home. If I had it to do again, I'd want more time. I'd want to get in on Friday (which folks said was less crowded) and have more than one day to soak it in. I might also invest in a "speed pass" ticket if I had any intent of getting autographs, as that would bypass a lot of standing-in-line time.
It really was huge and overwhelming, but I think a good experience overall.
Con photos up
We rented a car, left Friday morning, got to Denver with enough time to pick up a con badge that hadn't shown up in the mail, then meet friends for dinner. With a party member who hadn't been exposed, we went to Casa Bonita - which itself means long lines on a Friday night (of a holiday-ish weekend). The food's not bad and the atmosphere is fun. I like the experience, and getting to hang out with an old friend and catch up was a definite plus. This all got us back to the hotel fairly late and road-weary, though.
Saturday, we got breakfast close and went off to the convention center. And walked around the convention center to join the line. And shuffled through line for... well, I didn't time it. Over an hour, I'm sure, as it was wrapped around the building and merged with others along the way. I think waiting in line with others can be a bonding experience. And we saw tons of people and costumes just there, even before we got into the lobby, which was packed.
Things thinned out a little in the halls and exhibition rooms, but back on the main floor with various vendors set up, it was pretty dense again. Sooo many people. It makes my experiences at Further Confusion look almost laughable by comparison. Last year recorded something like 117,000 people, and I imagine this year will outdo it.
There were tons of costumes on display. I'm a little surprised I didn't see more fursuits, Mandalorians, or steampunk individuals specifically, but all three niches were represented to some degree. There were a bunch of Rick-and-Morty pairs, perhaps the most common thing I took note of. Though there might have been more Deadpools. I only caught sight of one Mass Effect individual - a uniformed (rather than armored) femshep with a baby krogan in her bag. There were a lot of general Star Wars characters. Just so many different things, some of which I got pictures of, and some I didn't. So many I'm sure I didn't even see.
There were authors, artists, vendors of toys and comic books of course. A large section was set off for signing booths. And lines everywhere. Everrrrywhere.
I did not go in with any must-do targets. Nina and Jamie did have some, but the panels they had in mind to view were kind of shot to hell by how long it took to do anything. We did get in a few lines. They got through to Felicia Day. I started off standing in a line mostly to keep company, but decided to suffer through it and about an hour later, Jamie and I had signed pictures from Nathan Fillion. As a side note, his hands were notably soft. So, surrounded by so much, that's really the only thing I walked away with. There were a bunch of other toys and tidbits, but nothing that screamed "buy me!"
The problem with the whole experience is how huge and overwhelming it was. At FC, one would go make a sweep of the dealers' den and go back to the room. In this case, I didn't want to leave the convention center for fear of getting stuck in a line to get back in (though it may well have cleared up later in the day), so it was go there and spend pretty much the whole day there, until we left to get dinner. And even then, we didn't feel like going farther than the restaurant attached to the hotel (which was quite good, mind you). I'm also kind of glad I didn't finish my Mandalorian kit, as wearing that all day may well have been too much.
Due to personal schedules and a need to get back, there was no second excursion to the con, just the return home. If I had it to do again, I'd want more time. I'd want to get in on Friday (which folks said was less crowded) and have more than one day to soak it in. I might also invest in a "speed pass" ticket if I had any intent of getting autographs, as that would bypass a lot of standing-in-line time.
It really was huge and overwhelming, but I think a good experience overall.
Con photos up
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